


Just Kiss Me

by oyhumbug



Category: General Hospital
Genre: Drama, F/M, Romance, Songfic, alternative history
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-02-18
Updated: 2007-02-18
Packaged: 2018-01-19 05:54:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1458364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oyhumbug/pseuds/oyhumbug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elizabeth is eight months pregnant and miserable as she lives the lie she's been forced to tell. What happens when she tells Jason exactly how she feels in an emotional confrontation at a bar they share a past with?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Kiss Me

**Author's Note:**

> Previously posted at fanfiction.net, LJ (oy_humbug2), my own site (Delicious Infatuation), and Liason message boards.

**Just Kiss Me  
**

 

As Jason Morgan stepped into the cool, dark, murky recesses of Jake’s, he sighed a breath of relief, one that was large enough to slightly ease the tension knotting his strong, capable body but, yet, small enough to keep his anxiety hidden from any lurking observer. Granted, it was highly unlikely that anyone was watching him in the rundown, hole of a bar, but the enforcer was always prepared, always one step ahead of his enemies, always on guard. With a nod to the dependable bartender, he signaled for a beer and quickly surveyed the room to make sure he was secure. He needed a break; he needed a break from his life, from being the solid, dependable boyfriend who stood by his girlfriend’s side as she helped her mother battle an ultimately terminable case of cancer, from denying himself the one thing….the one person he wanted most in the world. Everything had changed so much in a year, and, while he was never one to regret anything, especially when his actions had rewarded him with so much, there were times when he wished his life to be different. Unfortunately though, he realized as he scanned the saloon, while he was going to escape from one torture, the confining, suffocating constraints of the hospital, he was entering another…one that, instead of trapping his mind, trapped his heart, for Elizabeth Webber _Spencer_ , the last name burned a painful, red-hot streak of anger through his mind and heart, was, once again, sitting at a dirty table in an equally dirty corner of the room after choosing a song from the old jukebox, a song that he had never heard before but whose lyrics were oddly powerful and telling of his current mindset.

_You gave me_  
Cold glass love  
You've got teeth for biting and you've bore a hole in me

His beer suddenly forgotten, he let his eyes roam over her petite form, drinking her in greedily like a man who had gone days without water, and, as long as she remained oblivious to his intense gazes, he would watch her for as long as he could. She looked beautiful, glowing for her pregnancy agreed with her. A loose, light, cotton dress clung to her rounded, eight month pregnant belly, their child growing and playing inside of her, while her legs and arms were bare to combat the heavy, oppressive heat of the unusually balmy April weather, and her feet were only housed in comfortable flip-flops. Secured with a clip, her dark, thick, naturally wavy hair was swept up off the nape of her neck, leaving her soft, silky, porcelain skin exposed. He could imagine running his hands across that neck, after all, he had before, and he knew just how amazing the feeling was, but he also knew it was something he couldn’t do again. She was only his to watch and admire, to love and cherish from a distance.

 

Snapping him from his fantasy, he heard her emit a choking sob, and, glancing up, Jason saw that she was tugging relentlessly at her wedding rings, rings he had practically forced her to wear again, in a vain attempt to remove them. Giving up for her fingers were too swollen because of her pregnancy, she collapsed onto the table, dissolving in quiet sobs of anguish and grief, and, at that point, he realized how close to the edge she was, and, despite her charming appearance, she was, in fact, miserable. Every rational thought in his mind screamed at him to stay away from her, that going to her would only complicate things, but he had never been able to stay away from Elizabeth, and he wasn’t going to start when she needed him most.

_You and me_  
Hot and cold  
You have crossed all safely while I teeter on my rope

Crouching down beside her, he reached out to touch her, to offer her comfort through the gentle embrace of his hand clasping hers, but, hesitating he pulled his arm back, not wanting to startle her any more than his abrupt presence at her side would. “Elizabeth,” he whispered, his breath catching in his throat when her surprised, red rimmed, tear stained sapphire eyes snapped up to meet his icy ones, her unmasked joy at seeing him sending a pleasant jolt through his tall form. “What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing,” she dismissed quickly only to correct herself by uttering, “everything,” softly under her breath. Instead of focusing upon his question and giving him a straight answer, she changed the subject, nodding with her head for him to take the seat across from her. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d be at the hospital with Sam?”

 

“I was,” he admitted, unable to flinch at the sorrow that coursed through her gaze at the mention of his girlfriend’s name, “but I had to get out of there, clear my head.”

 

Shrugging in an amused, nostalgic manner, she teased him, “you never were a fan of hospitals.” He only smirked in agreement before she continued talking. “How’s Alexis doing?”

 

“She’s not in pain anymore. They have her pretty well medicated to try and make her last few hours as comfortable as possible.” She nodded in recognition of his words. “How are you feeling,” Jason questioned her softly, his apparent concern making his words sound gentler than normal.

 

“I’m fine; we’re fine,” the expectant mother answered. Unfortunately, she showed no signs of the happiness women in their third trimester should display. “I had a doctor’s appointment earlier today. Everything’s right on track. I even got a sonogram picture of her.”

 

“Her,” he repeated, dumbstruck by the news that Elizabeth was carrying their daughter. “You’re having a little girl?”

_Better than me_  
And I know  
You are calm and symmetry and I’m an empty hole

“No, we’re having a little girl. Here,” she insisted, opening her purse before handing him the small black and white photo. “I have one from a couple of months ago. Why don’t you keep this one? After all, you are her Daddy…even if your name will not be on the birth certificate.”

 

The young, powerful man could not miss the hurt, resentment, and slight recrimination in her tone as she spoke her last statement. “Look, Elizabeth,” he started to protest, but she quickly interrupted him.

 

“I know what you’re going to say; I’ve heard it enough already. You don’t want my children to live in danger, you don’t want me to live in danger,” she parroted his own statements with a sarcastic lilt to her voice, “and there was a time when I agreed with you; hell, a year ago I would have agreed with you, but look at what my life’s become. I married a cop, following my head and not my heart, because he supposedly stood for the completely antithesis of your lifestyle, only to have him shot, almost die, become addicted to drugs, cheat on me, and put my life and, more importantly, my son’s life at risk. Then Mr. Craig came to town, and, granted that whole mess was associated with Alcazar who is connected to your world, but the government was also involved with the disaster. After everything I’ve been through, I’ve learned that there’s always a threat out there, there’s always the chance you can get hurt, no matter what lifestyle you live or in what field you work. At least you recognize the danger and strive to fight it. Lucky is just totally oblivious.”

 

“Look, you might have a point,” Jason conceded, making her smile briefly in triumph before dispelling her victory by continuing to talk, “but I still think you, Cameron, and…our daughter,” he swallowed thickly at the sheer power of his own words, “are safer away from me. Besides”, he added, “this is better; it’s fair for everyone.”

_My envy_  
Of all you own  
I want to be a possession you dust and won't _let go_

“Is it though,” she pushed him, her dark indigo eyes snapping with impatience and opposition. “Is it fair to Lucky that I avoid him, that I refuse to sleep in the same bed as him or let him touch me, using the pregnancy as an excuse? Is it fair that I fear giving birth in a month, because then, after I recover, I’ll have no reason not to fulfill my conjugal duties as his wife? Is it fair that he is going to raise two children that aren’t his own and never get to experience the joy of having his own child, because I refuse to carry anyone’s child but yours? Is it fair that I’m holding him back from falling in love again, because I’m pretending to want to work out our issues and stay together? No, Jason, it’s not fair.

 

“Is it fair to Sam that the one thing she wants most in the world, to carry your child, is something that I’ve been blessed with? Is it fair to her that we’re lying to her and keeping our baby’s paternity a secret? Is it fair that her whole relationship with you is now based upon a lie and that you will come running to my aid if I ever need you no matter what? Of course it isn’t!

 

“Is it fair that I am not capable of enjoying my pregnancy, that I’m depressed and scared of giving birth because I won’t have you at my side? Is it fair that I fall asleep every night after crying until I have no more tears left, that I wake up in the middle of the night from dreams where we’re together and happy raising both of the kids together as a family only to realize that you’re not mine but another woman’s? Is it fair that when I think of you sharing a bed with Sam I literally get sick? Is it fair that I don’t get to be with the man I love? Well again,” she sighed tiredly, “no, it isn’t, but maybe I don’t deserve fair.

 

“And then there’s you, Jason. Is it fair that you’ll never get to be a father to your daughter, that you’re denying your only child and letting another man raise her, a man who doesn’t deserve to take care of our baby? Is it fair that you’ve trapped yourself in a relationship that is unstable and built upon a foundation of lies? Is it fair that you always surrender your own happiness to ensure others? I don’t think it is.

 

“What about my son, what about Cameron,” she pressed on, each question, each reservation, each doubt bringing increased pressure to his already strained shoulders and new flickers of pain to his troubled irises of cold cobalt. “Is it fair to him that he’ll never get to know the most compassionate, giving, loving man his mother has ever met; is it fair that he’ll never get to know you? Is it fair that his little sister’s life is going to be a lie? Is it fair that he has to see me cry everyday, knowing that I’m sad, depressed, and lonely and that he can’t do anything to help me? Is it fair that he’ll never get the happy family he deserves? Hell no!

 

Jason’s gaze broke away from her strong one, incapable of facing her pointed, haunting words a moment longer, but she wasn’t finished. With sobs in her own voice, she continued in a sorrowful whisper. “Is it fair that our daughter will never know her father, that she’ll be raised by a man who, though he tries to love her like his own, will always hate her Daddy and feel contempt towards her conception? Is it fair that her Mother is scared to bring her into a world where she can’t be offered the life she deserves? Is it fair that she, just like Cam, will not be raised by the loving family they deserves? Is it fair that her whole existence is going to be based upon a lie?

_Gentlest touch_  
And sweetest sound  
Something you'll run back in for when the house burns down

“Don’t you see? None of this is fair to anyone involved! Life is messy; it’s complicated, dangerous, but it’s ultimately worth every tear and every frown because of the wonderful things it gives us. It gives us family, love, brief flashes of happiness, and, when we get those precious moments, we have to grab hold of them as tightly as possible and not let go. I understand you don’t want to hurt anyone,” Elizabeth relented slightly, reaching across the grimy table to tightly grip the hand of the man she loved before standing up, “but sometimes pain is unavoidable, and I’m sorry, but, what we’re doing now Jason, lying to everyone, something that you’ve always hated, it’s only going to cause more hurt than you’re trying to prevent, and, someday, it’s all going to come out whether you want it to or not.”

 

With that, she turned to leave, but, after taking a few steps away, she stopped, turned back around, and let her misty, emotional orbs of deep blue rest tenderly upon the destroyed man in front of her. Sliding up to him, she waited for him to move in his seat so she could rest between his legs, her hands automatically lifting from her sides to compassionately cup his smooth jaw. “I know you don’t love me,” she started, her voice hitching with emotion, “and that you’re in love with Sam, but will you do something for me, Jason. I’ve spoken my peace, told you how I feel, and so I’ll leave you alone now. I just want you to give me something first.”

 

“Anything,” he agreed readily. He wanted to say more, contradict her words and tell her that he never wanted her to leave him alone, but, instead, he simply waited to hear her request.

 

“Kiss me,” the brunette, expecting mother practically begged, “one last time.”

 

“Elizabeth,” he started to protest only to be cut off by her words.

_Alone_  
Alone doesn't feel so cold  
Alone  
Alone doesn't feel so cold

“Please…I just, I need this. I need to feel you close to me. Eight months ago we spent a night together, and, although it started because we were both in pain, it ending with me realizing how much I love you….how much I’ve always loved you. Before that night, we had never been together,” she explained, blushing slightly, “and I know that I was supposed to move on and forget what we shared, but I can’t, because that one night meant more to me than you’ll ever know. It gave me our daughter, it gave me comfort and made me feel safe in a world that suddenly made no sense, and it gave me you for a few, brief hours, and, in those hours, it felt as if I finally had your love, too. I need that again; I need to feel what it’s like to be loved by you even if it only lasts for a few seconds.”

“I don’t think it’s such a good idea,” he argued. “It’s not going to be that simple…”

 

But she interrupted him again, her mood, due to her hormones, switching from desperation to pure, seething anger. “Damn it, Morgan! Just kiss me!”

 

Before either of them knew what was happening, Jason had shoved his chair aside to stand up, his hands automatically seeking her gorgeous face as her own startled hands slid down his body to wrap around his toned waist. The kiss was intended to be soft, delicate, a whisper of an embrace, but as soon as their lips touched, their passion for each other igniting a dangerous, powerful spark of need, desire, and want in both of them, their kiss because anything but gentle, his mouth immediately pulling hers deeper into his, their tongues battling ferociously as each strained to taste each other fully and capture the very essence of their partner. It had been eight months since he had last touched her like she was his, eight long, denial filled months, and, as soon as she was in his arms again, he knew they would not stop with just a simple kiss.

_'Cause your arms_  
Your arms they don't feel so warm  
So come  
Come love and take me home

He backed them up until her back was forcefully pushed into the wall, a surprised yet pleasured gasp escaping her otherwise busy lips. Despite Elizabeth’s protests, he dropped his mouth to her neck, dancing his yearning kisses across her alabaster throat, shoulders, and chest. Although she did not want to separate their palates, his distracting attentions to the rest of her upper body gave her another opportunity to speak. With a deep, husky, lustful growl, she demanded, “touch me,” before taking his wandering hands in her own and sliding them up her dress so that his rough, calloused hands grasped her hips. Once again she pleaded, “touch me, Jason.”

 

It was his complete undoing.

 

Without hesitation, he tightened his grip upon her waist, pulled her against him as closely as their child growing between them would allow, and joined their mouths together in yet another insatiable, obsessive kiss. They embraced each other until neither could last another second without pulling away to take a much needed breath, and, as soon as their lips became untangled, Jason wrapped his arms around the petite woman standing in front of him and lifted her up to be cradled against his chest as if she weighed no more than a mere child. He didn’t care who was watching them in that moment; he didn’t care if the bartender realized that he was taking a woman who was definitely not his girlfriend up to the room he used to rent, he didn’t care if the other patrons in the establishment whispered amongst themselves about how one of the most notorious criminals on the east coast had so publicly kissed a very pregnant woman in the middle of a crowded bar, and he didn’t care if one of the body guards came in to find him only to discover that he was with Elizabeth. All that mattered was that she was in his arms, she was kissing him, and, for the first time in eight months, he wasn’t second guessing his every thought and action. Jason Morgan was, once again, following his instincts, and, as always, they seemed to lead him back to the petite, diminutive, blue eyed brunette who matched his own temper and prickly personality with an adorable fury and stubborn streak of her own.

_What I am_  
And what you are  
Some things just don't hold the way the night has trapped a star

As soon as they made it to the room, he placed her back on the ground, but, before he could reach around her back to unzip her dress, her own hands moved to his waistband and quickly unfastened his jeans, forcing them and his boxers down with one fluid motion.

 

“Just push it up,” she demanded of him in reference to her clothes.

 

He had never seen this side of Elizabeth before, and he had to admit it was a pleasant shock and definitely addictive. Following her orders, the flimsy sundress was quickly pushed up, and he made fast work of sliding her delicate, soft yellow, lace panties down her legs to fall unceremoniously on the floor. Picking her up once again, her back arched to accommodate her swollen abdomen that protected their child, he slammed into her, the primal urge and desire he felt making his actions unrestrained, abandoned, and wild. She matched him need for need.

_Alone_  
Alone doesn't feel so cold  
Alone  
Alone doesn't feel so cold

Their love making was swift and loud, but as Jason felt her vibrating to his touch and heard her moan out his name, he couldn’t hold back any longer and exploded inside of her just as abruptly, both of their bodies completely satisfied…for the time being. He held her in his arms, savoring her nearness and the rapid pace of her heart as it beat in time with his own, until he felt the waves of her intense orgasm fading slowly to leave her with a pleasant warmth. Setting her down, he watched in amazement as she yawned, her lips, puffy from his intense kisses, opening widely in an expression of her complete exhaustion and content, and took off her dress, tossing it aside before reaching to remove his own shirt. Willingly, he let her strip him, only kicking off his shoes, socks, pants, and boxers once he realized her intent. Once they were both completely nude, she took his much larger hand in her own smaller one and led him to the bed, offering him a gracious smile when he helped her lie down before climbing in with her and rearranging their forms so that she was resting between his naked, vulnerable legs.

 

“Go to sleep, Elizabeth,” he coaxed her, his arms wrapping around her belly as he waited to feel their daughter kick and his lips finding her sweat dampened hair as he bussed an adoring kiss to her brow while inhaling her subtle, pleasing scent. With a content sigh, she tucked her head under his chin, her face falling to rest against his bare chest, her warm breath tickling his glistening skin.

 

There were things they had to discuss, decisions to be made, but, in that moment, Jason was content to let her sleep in his arms while he kept her safe and watched over her, their little girl playing gently along under the loving caresses of his soothing hands. Their talk could wait though, because, for the first time in years, they had time.

 

_'Cause your arms_  
Your arms they don't feel so warm  
So come  
Come love and take me home.

 

= + =

 

She had been sleeping for a little over an hour when he started to notice the way her stomach would suddenly contract for several seconds before releasing its pressure and returning to its normal, taunt softness, but, thinking it was a normal symptom of her pregnancy, he simply went back to observing her body. He was amazed by how different her form was because of the baby she was carrying and couldn’t stop touching her. The once gentle swell of her small breasts, breasts that had before fit so perfectly in his strong, masculine hands, was now swollen, round, and firm with the milk her body was already producing for their child. Her hips had slightly widened to allow for her to naturally give birth, and his eyes hungrily took in her now even curvier female form. She wasn’t just beautiful to him any longer; she was simply perfection. But the thing that captivated him the most was her bump of a stomach that resembled a pale basketball complete with the popped belly button he enjoyed so much.

 

He laughed when it would flutter with the movements of their daughter; he grinned at the light stretch marks that would fade but never disappear, a visible sign that she would always have that she had carried his child. His hands would mold against her expanded abdomen, and he realized he never wanted to let her go. Holding her, feeling their baby gave him a sense of peace Jason Morgan had never felt before, and it was as addicting as it was frightening.

 

Nothing existed outside of the room they shared. He had no idea what was happening in the bar below them, what was happening at the hospital, or what was happening with the business he ran with his best friend, and, as far as he was concerned, it could stay like that forever. However, just as soon as the idea occurred to him, their idyllic paradise was disturbed when he felt a cool, wet liquid gush against his bare legs, shocking him back to reality. Suddenly, all he could think of was moving out of the uncomfortable position he was stuck in.

 

“Elizabeth,” he urged the beauty slumbering in his arms to wake. “You have to get up. I think your water just broke.” When she did nothing, he moved his hands to sweep through her hair as he continued to talk. “Come on, we have to get you to the hospital. I think you’re in labor.”

 

Tossing restlessly in his arms, she whispered, “five more minutes, Cam, Mommy’s tired,” before burying her head even deeper into his warm chest.

 

Looking at her, Jason realized just how true her words were. She was exhausted, and the dark rings of sheer fatigue underlying her doe-like eyes made him sigh dejectedly to himself. He should have been taking care of her, Cameron, and the baby instead of stubbornly pushing them away. He had always hated people making his decisions for him and imposing their will, and that’s exactly what he had done to her.

 

Trying again, he pressed, “it’s almost time to meet our little girl, Elizabeth. You’ve got to help me here though; you’ve got to wake up.”

 

Grumbling, she went to move out of his arms, but, as realization of the situation set in, she dropped back into his lap only to turn around and stare up at him with wide, slightly panicked eyes. She was scared and wanting him to comfort her.

 

“It’s too soon,” she whispered. “I’m not ready yet. There are things I still need to buy, I don’t have a bag packed for us, arrangements for Cam haven’t been made yet, and I don’t even have a name picked out!”

 

Gently, he stood up and repositioned her on the bed to sit on her own before striding across the room to pick up their clothes. “Quit worrying,” he ordered. “I’ll send Max out to pick up whatever you need and over to your place to pack a bag. He’ll complain, but it’s a good way to keep him from feeling to self-important.” Her soft giggles made him smile. He was normally not someone to joke around that much, but if the lighthearted humor made her relax, he would write a whole stand up routine if he needed to. “As for Cam, I’ll call Sonny and see if he could send Leticia to watch him, maybe he could even go over to play with Michael and Morgan some to keep him occupied and busy so he doesn’t realize you’re gone.” Moving back towards her, he helped her slip her dress back on, simply leaving her underwear off before hastily putting on his own clothes. “As for a name, I’m sure I’ll be able to find you a book at the hospital, and you can look through it while we’re there.” Without waiting for her to reply, he picked her up in his arms as soon as he was dressed, and quickly made his way out of the room, down the dark, narrow stairway, and through the front door of Jakes, totally oblivious to the stares they garnered. Placing her in the passenger side of her car, he climbed in the driver’s seat and sped off to the hospital, his prized bike standing forgotten in the parking lot. There was only one thought on his mind, to take care of Elizabeth and their unborn baby, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

 

= + =

 

“This is a surprise, Elizabeth,” Dr. Kelly Lee announced as she walked into the young brunette’s hospital room, her nose buried in her patient’s chart. Without looking up, she asked, “do you need me to call Lucky?”

 

“No,” the anxious, in pain mother replied quickly, a slight bite to her tone that surprised her physician into looking up only to confront the hard gaze of a protective Jason Morgan.

 

“Oh,” the doctor whispered. Blinking away her shock, the mask of the constant profession slid across her face. “Well the nurse informed me that you’re moving along beautifully, already four inches dilated. The only thing I’m not sure about is what brought your labor on. When I saw you a few hours ago, you were displaying no signs of giving birth. Did something happen?”

 

Elizabeth shared a momentary, secretive gaze with the man standing beside her, the man who had carried her into the hospital demanding immediately care, the man who had held her hand during her contractions and let her squeeze his fingers as if her life depended upon them, the man who was feeding her ice chips when she asked for them, the man who was soothing her stress away by delicately caressing her tired brow and kissing her forehead whenever she was close to crying out in pain, the man who was her everything, and, in that one look, Dr. Lee easily recognized the answer to her question that neither of the other two adults would verbally express. However, she couldn’t help but smirk at the confident, normally unreadable enforcer when he blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous manner.

 

“Alright then,” Kelly flipped Elizabeth’s chart closed, “if you need anything just call for help. I have other patients I need to check on, but, until then, I’m putting you in charge of keeping her relaxed and calm, Mr. Morgan. Monitor her breathing, talk her through her contractions, and do whatever you can to take her mind off the pain. If this labor continues to progress as quickly as it is now, this baby is going to born within the next few hours.”

 

As soon as the door had closed behind her, Jason turned to the impishly grinning pixie of a female beside him and sent her his sternest, mock glare. “Did you really have to make it that obvious what we were doing….before.” His sudden streak of modesty and discomfort amusing her to no end.

 

“Hm,” she pondered, teasing him, “and what exactly were we doing?”

 

Ignoring her, he sat down on the side of her bed and changed the subject. “So, you mentioned something about not having a name picked out. Do you want me to go and buy a book for you?”

 

“I don’t know. Did you have anything in mind?”

 

“Me?”

 

“Well, yeah, Jason,” Elizabeth said easily, joining their fingers together in an intimate embrace. “She’s your daughter, too, so, of course, you have a say in what we name her.”

 

Shrugging, he replied honestly, “I hadn’t really thought about it.”

 

“Okay. I did have one idea,” she admitted. “And, before you say anything, I know you weren’t exactly close, but I thought maybe you’d like to name her after your father.”

 

“You want us to name her Alan,” the blonde haired, blue eyed man questioned in disbelief.

 

“Of course not,” she dismissed him with a wave of her hand and a gentle laugh, “but we could give her a feminine form of the name…like Alana, but we’d call her Ally for short. And then for a middle name I was thinking….”

 

“Wait a second,” Jason interrupted her, chuckling at her exuberance, “I thought you said you didn’t know what you were going to name her.”

 

“Well….not definitely,” the young mother confided, “but I’d thought about it….a little bit.” As another contraction started to seize her, she stiffened in the bed, and he stood up to coach her through it. After several deep breaths, a few curse words, and a moment where the almost invincible man thought the petite woman might break his hand, the pain passed, and they were, once again, able to talk. “Anyway, as I was saying,” Elizabeth continued, suddenly a woman on a mission, “I was thinking either Audrey, of course for my Gram, or Jean, after Bobbie, for her middle name.”

 

“What about Imogene,” he teased her, allowing her to jab her small elbow into his muscular abdomen, barely even feeling her feeble attempt to punish his sarcastic comment and jibe about her middle name. “Shouldn’t that be passed down throughout the generations of Webber women?”

 

“This baby is not going to be a Webber,” she responded saucily, “she’s a Morgan, so I guess your suggestion can’t even be considered.”

 

“Or we could name her after Carly,” Jason continued to joke, his second idea making her mouth hang upon in utter disgust. “After all, I know how close the two of you are.”

 

“If you think I’m naming our daughter after that hypocritical, nosey, meddling….”

 

“Okay, the name Caroline is off the table,” he appeased her, capturing her angry, ineffectual fists in his own much larger hands, bending down slightly to kiss each one, but, before either of them could say another thing, their moment was interrupted.

 

“Mr. Morgan,” the loud, demanding voice of Epiphany, Elizabeth’s coworker, boomed into the closed space, “Miss McCall heard you were here, and she was wondering when you were going to join her in her Mother’s room.”

 

“It’s okay, Jason,” Elizabeth quickly shut down, turning away from him. “If Sam needs you, you should go to her. You don’t have to stay here.”

 

“Epiphany,” he turned towards the older woman, “would you please tell Sam that I’m staying here.” Before the curious woman could say more, he turned back to the mother of his child. “This is where I need to be,” he told her quietly. “This is where I want to be.”

 

Neither of the soon-to-be parents noticed the all-knowing smirk on the head nurse’s face as she slipped soundlessly out of the room, for Elizabeth’s shining, exultant eyes were fixed upon Jason’s, his own blue irises reflecting the same emotions she was feeling.

 

= + =

 

“Here you go, Mom,” Kelly said as she handed her patient her premature but perfectly healthy daughter. “Alana Imogene Morgan,” her quick eyes flashed to Jason’s face, but he was completely absorbed with watching his little girl and the mother of his child, “is ready to be fed.”

 

“I can’t believe you did that,” Elizabeth snapped at Jason, her tone slightly piqued with irritation but her eyes belying the fact that she was too happy and content to care that their daughter now had her hated middle name. “Taking advantage of a woman while she was dozing off after giving birth is not a cool thing to do, Morgan!”

 

“Hey, I like the name,” he protested.

 

Grumbling under her breath, the young brunette woman complained, “you would,” while, at the same time, taking their little girl into her arms. Motioning for him to untie her hospital gown, she let the material fall to expose her right breast, swollen and ripe for feeding the infant she cradled so lovingly in her arms.

 

“Congratulations,” Dr. Lee offered the new parents. “She’s beautiful. If you need anything,” she turned towards Elizabeth, “just call for a nurse. When you’re done feeding her, someone will come by to take her back to the nursery.” And, with that, the physician left them alone in the silent room, the quiet eventually unnerving the both of them.

 

“Thank you, Jason,” Elizabeth finally spoke up, turning her eyes to look deeply into the face of the man sitting beside her on the hospital bed. “Thank you for staying with, for helping me through my labor. You know, you didn’t have to.”

 

“Yes, I did,” he simply stated, but she ignored him.

 

“But it’s over now, Ally and I are just fine, we’re perfect actually, because of you, and you’re free to go,” her voice dropped to a small, sorrowful whisper, “back to Sam. I mean, she needs you, what with Alexis dying, and you love her….not me. So go, Jason,” she ordered, turning away from him. “Go back to your girlfriend.”

 

“I’m not leaving you or Ally.”

 

“It’s okay, I understand,” she said before his words could sink in. Once they did, she looked up at him with shock written plainly across her gorgeous, tired features. “What?”

 

“Everything’s crazy right now, but, like you said, life’s messy, complicated, even dangerous at times,” he used her own words, bringing a smile to her face, “but you, Cam, and Ally are my life….you’re my family, and it was crazy of me to think that I’d be able to sit by and let you walk out of my life and into Lucky’s. You’re stuck with me now.”

 

“But what about Sam, and my marriage, and Gram is going to have a fit when she finds out I’ve been lying to her. Oh my god,” she continued to panic, “Carly is going to a fit when she finds out. You’ll probably have to lock me up in the penthouse for a few weeks or send me to the island to make sure she doesn’t pull all my hair out when I’m sleeping. And then there’s figuring out where we’re going to live and all the packing we’ll have do, not to mention….”

 

“Elizabeth,” he interrupted her ramblings, smiling widely down at her in her classic overreacting mode, “would you shut up and just kiss me?”

 

Before she could reply, he simply took her lips in a demanding kiss, prying them apart to slip his tongue into her mouth so he could taste her very essence. She was sweet and delicious, moist and hot, inviting and addictive all in the same breath. Pulling away, he nipped gently at her bottom lip, lightly letting his hand caress her fair cheek, before swinging his legs up onto the side of the bed and reclining back with her. As she slid into his arms, their daughter finished eating and already asleep, the three of them relaxed together as a family, the only thing missing from making the moment perfect was her son, Cameron, a little boy Jason knew he already loved.

 

It didn’t take her weary body long to drift into a peaceful slumber, mere minutes in fact, but, as Jason started to drift into a serene rest himself, he heard the quick steps of a petite woman in healed boots step away from the hospital room’s doorway. He knew those steps, he recognized the brunette form as she fled down the hallway, and he could identify the sound of her sobs easily enough to know that Sam McCall had been eavesdropping and watching them, that she knew the truth about Elizabeth’s baby, that she knew he was the father, and that she realized he was going to leave her for the mother of his child, but, despite all the time they had spent together and despite the fact that he had cared deeply for her and never wanted to be the one to hurt her, he didn’t get up out of the bed to stop her from running away, to ease her pain. Instead, he pulled the woman he was in love with closer to his body, ran his hand through his daughter’s dark, curly hair, and closed his eyes to go to sleep. Jason Morgan was perfectly content where he was, and he was going nowhere, because, after years of ultimately being alone, he had found a family and a home….with Elizabeth.

**Author's Note:**

> Song Featured in this Story: "Alone" by Trespassers William


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